Anderson Silva is eager to get back into the Octagon. | Dave
Mandel/Sherdog.com

Through it all -- the writhing in agony on the Octagon floor, the
emergency surgery, the grueling rehab -- Anderson
Silva never once thought about quitting.

“The Spider” suffered a gruesomely broken left leg throwing a kick
in a loss to Chris
Weidman at UFC 168 this past December. The former middleweight
champion had a rod inserted into his left tibia during an emergency
procedure after the bout. Word of his recovery came in bits and
pieces until a major breakthrough in June: Silva was officially
cleared to spar.

Earlier this week, Dana White announced that Silva would face
Nick
Diaz in a blockbuster middleweight clash as part of the
promotion’s traditional Super Bowl weekend card at UFC
183. It was an arduous process, to be sure, but the man who had
to endure it all to get to this point didn’t think twice about what
he was doing -- even at 39 years old.

“Retirement never went through my mind,” Silva said through
translator Jorge Guimares during a conference call on Friday.
“What’s happening right now is I’m just dying to return to the
Octagon and do the thing I most love in my life.”

Silva clearly has no qualms about returning to active competition.
However, his family had a different view.

“To tell you the truth, they were not too happy. But they respect
my wish, and now they’re coping with it,” he said.

Silva said there are no limitations on his training and that his
leg is “95 percent and improving.” He expects to be 100 percent by
fight night. The hardware in the middleweight’s leg is not an
issue, and there are currently no plans to remove it with another
surgery.

While Silva broke his leg as a result of a checked kick, he claims
there was no apprehension the first time he attempted to throw a
kick in training -- nor will there be when he squares off with Diaz
on Jan. 31. By then, Silva says, it will be full speed ahead.

“I’m not kicking as hard as I usually do [in training],” Silva
said. “But I’m going to wait to kick hard on the day of the
fight.”

When Silva relinquished the 185-pound belt to Weidman at UFC 162
more than a year ago, it ended a record streak of 10 consecutive
title defenses for “The Spider.” After he lost to “The
All-American” again at the end of last year, it seemed to solidity
Weidman’s spot atop the division.

Weidman has done nothing to dispel that notion, capturing a
five-round verdict over former light heavyweight king Lyoto
Machida in his most recent outing at UFC 175.

Silva has been monitoring the division from afar during the past
several months, and he is impressed with not only Weidman, but a
number of contenders in the weight class.

“Of course I’ve been following all the fights. Chris
Weidman is a great champion. The guy is for real,” Silva said.
“But there is no doubt it’s a stacked weight class now with
[Ronaldo
Souza], Luke
Rockhold -- [and] Vitor
Belfort is for sure a great contender. The [division] is only
getting better.”

Eight fights remain on Silva’s current UFC deal, which seems like a
lot for a fighter approaching his 40th birthday. With his focus
currently on Diaz, Silva can’t guarantee that he will fulfill the
duration of his contract.

And as for getting back into title contention? Silva wouldn’t rule
it out -- but he isn’t necessarily losing sleep over the
possibility, either.

“Obviously right now it’s not my priority, but it’s not out of the
question to fight for the title,” he said. “If I have the
credentials to fight for the title, I’ll be more than glad to do
it. I’m going to see how I perform [at UFC 183]. That’s my main
priority now.”

Both Silva and Diaz will enter their heavily hyped bout on
two-fight skids. That hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm surrounding
the bout, no matter what Diaz
might have to say about it. As for Silva, he plans on
delivering the goods.

“This fight has all the ingredients to be one of the best fights of
all time,” he said.